Beyond technique

Creative light design, support of communication

A light design thought for a project of cultural communication, be it a museum, an exhibition or an installation, is much more than an electric and lighting project.

Elements such as the values of lux, infrared, ultraviolet are necessary and mandatory for a work of expository illumination, and the attention to electric and energetic aspects is fundamental in any project, as it is the awareness and weaknesses of the technological possibilities. However, a light design that only meets these points is merely a technical exercise, which does not take advantage of the most interesting potential of illumination, in the same way in which a building standing and not falling over does not take advantage of the entire potential of architectural science.

Light determines how we see things; it changes the aspect of what we see and may change our perception of things. It has an influence on the understanding of what we are seeing and on our overall state of mind after having seen it.

In this sense, light design is a technology adjoining with an art, which has its roots in the etymology of the word “spectacle”: “what we need to see and what must be seen”.

When an illuminator is aware of the objectives of the expository project and is in constant and fruitful connection with the creative team, he can have a substantial contribution in communicating successfully the message.